


valentine's day

by ikeracity



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Smitten Erik
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-13 21:32:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13579329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikeracity/pseuds/ikeracity
Summary: Kid fic! Erik waits impatiently all day at school to give Charles a card for Valentine's Day. Maybe Charles has something for him too...?





	valentine's day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theapolis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theapolis/gifts).



> Written for theapolis for the following prompt: "DR. IKE, KID!CHERIK EXCHANGE VALENTINE'S AT SCHOOL, Y/Y??? Charles hand-draws his, and Erik gives his as a "secret admirer" but Charles knows it's him."
> 
> Originally posted on tumblr [here](http://ikeracity.tumblr.com/post/157252721049/dr-ike-kidcherik-exchange-valentines-at).

The morning of Valentine’s Day absolutely dragged by. Erik, who was never very patient to begin with, fidgeted in his seat all through math and reading, driven to distraction by the Valentine’s boxes on everyone’s desks — by one Valentine’s box in particular, the one on the desk across the room, nearest to the door.

As Mrs. Hagens drew Roman numerals on the board ( _boring_  — Erik had mastered Roman numerals weeks ago), Erik ran his fingers along his own Valentine’s box. The night before, Mama had helped him tape pink, heart-covered wrapping paper all around a shoebox and cut a small slot in the lid where Valentine’s cards could be deposited. Then he’d stuck shark stickers all over it, just to make it less mushy. He was pretty proud of it, even though he wasn’t expecting to get many cards from his classmates. They didn’t like him very much. But he was hoping…

He slid a glance across the room to where Charles Xavier sat, his head bent down behind his Valentine’s box as he scribbled down the equations on the board. Why he needed to take notes, Erik had no idea — Charles was clearly the smartest person in the whole class, and rumor was it, he had a perfect memory. But he always took notes and he always worked harder than anyone else, even when they were doing stupid worksheets. That was probably why Erik liked him so much. He usually hated know-it-alls, but Charles wasn’t  _annoying_  about knowing everything. He was nice.  

Besides, he was the only other mutant in their class, and that meant they had a  _connection_. The only problem was, Charles didn’t seem to notice it.

By the time the lunch bell rang, Erik was hungry and bored and impatient to actually get to the Valentine’s part of the day. “Okay, everyone,” Mrs. Hagens said, capping her marker, “line up by the door, single-file. And remember, we’re going to have our Valentine’s party after lunch so don’t eat all your candy beforehand, okay? We’re going to save it all for the party.”

Erik got up quickly, hoping to line up behind Charles, but before he could, Moira slid in right beside Charles’s chair and said something that made him laugh. Scowling, Erik stared at them for a long moment, then slunk to the back of the line.

Lunch sucked. Erik sat alone at one of the smaller tables and watched jealously as Charles and all his friends joked and laughed and flicked corn kernels at each other. Part of Erik wanted desperately to go over and ask if he could sit with them, since there was still room at the table. The greater part of him wanted desperately for Charles to come over and ask to sit with  _him_.  

Charles didn’t, of course.

As they filed back into the classroom after lunch, Erik put his hand into his desk to make sure his card was still there. He’d spent several long minutes yesterday in the store selecting it, bought it with his own allowance money, and taken an hour last night to carefully write a note and decorate it. Mama had spellchecked for him and ruffled his hair afterwards, smiling. She’d said it was very sweet, which made Erik blush because that was  _embarrassing,_ but he hadn’t changed anything because Charles seemed like the kind of boy who liked sweet things. At least, that was what Erik hoped.

Once they were all seated, Mrs. Hagens clapped her hands. “Okay, everyone, listen up. Everyone’s going to get the chance to give everyone else their Valentine’s cards, but we have to do in an orderly manner. I’m going to let the left side of the room get up and go first, then the right. I’m going to pass around some coloring pages and candy while they’re doing that so we all have something to do. Any questions?”

They all shook their heads, too excited for questions. “Okay,” Mrs. Hagens said, picking up a bag full of Hershey kisses, “let’s get this party started!”

Erik sat on the right side of the room so he had to wait impatiently as the other half of the class scurried around slipping cards into the Valentine’s boxes of all their friends. Some people had brought cards for everyone, so even Erik got a few cards in his box. Marissa gave Erik a shy smile as she slipped a parcel of candy into his box, and Erik, caught off-guard, just stared at her until she hurried away.

He immediately felt bad about it, but before he could think to do anything, Charles wheeled over to his desk. Too surprised to move, Erik sat perfectly still in his chair, his heart thudding unevenly in his chest.  _Act natural!_  he wanted to scream at himself, but he couldn’t manage to do anything but stare like a complete idiot as Charles slid a card into his box.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Erik,” he said in his perfect, sharp accent. His smile made Erik feel like he’d been slapped in the face, but in a good way somehow.

“H — happy Valentine’s Day,” Erik managed. Charles had given him a card? Charles had thought to make a card for  _him?_

“I was hoping…” Charles hesitated, his smile turning uncharacteristically shy. “Maybe you want…”

Erik tried to swallow through his suddenly dry throat. “Yes?”

“I was wondering — ”

“Okay, everyone,” Mrs. Hagens called out, “back to your seats. Let’s give the rest of the class a chance to pass out their cards, too.” She paused, then said sharply, “Barry, do  _not_  throw that candy.”

As she turned to lecture Barry, Charles smiled at Erik again and said, “Well, happy Valentine’s,” and wheeled back to his desk. Disappointed, Erik slouched back into his chair, crossed his arms, and pretended he probably wouldn’t have cared about what Charles wanted to say anyway.

Mama had insisted that he bring enough candy for everyone, just to be nice, so when it was his turn to make his rounds of the classroom, Erik dropped a couple of Hershey’s kisses into everyone’s boxes, even into Moira’s. When he reached Charles, he gave Charles a whole handful, then reached nervously for the card hidden in his pocket.

“I…um…” His mouth was dry all over again. Charles looked up at him, smiling, and Erik forgot absolutely everything he’d wanted to say.

“Hey, Charles!” It was Moira, leaning back in her chair a few desks away. “You want my Twix?”

Erik took advantage of Charles’s momentary distraction to slip the card into his box and flee back to his seat. He felt all jittery, like he always did right before a soccer game. As soon as he sat down, all the doubts came rushing in — what if Charles didn’t like Hershey’s kisses? What if Charles saw the card but didn’t know who it was from because Erik had only written  _a secret admirer_? What if Charles thought it was from  _Moira?_

Forcing himself not to look over at the other end of the classroom, Erik pulled his Valentine’s box closer and opened it up. There was a surprising number of cards piled inside, as well as a few Hershey’s kisses and smarties. One of the cards snagged his eye: it was blue and yellow and it said  _To Erik, From Charles_.

Swallowing, Erik dug it out and unfolded it.

_Dear Erik,_

_Roses are red, violets are blue, I really like you, I hope you like me too! :)_

_Sincerely,_

_Charles_

Electrified, Erik stared at it. Charles liked him? Like,  _like_  liked him? What did this mean?

He shot a look across the classroom and found Charles smiling at him and waving — waving Erik’s  _card_.

Unable to restrain himself, Erik pushed away from his desk and walked over, feeling a bit dazed and a bit brave all at once. He clutched Charles’s card in his hand for courage and said, “Thanks. For the card, I mean. I, um…” He took a deep breath and said all in a rush, “I like you, too…you know…” He meant to say I  _like_ like you, but he couldn’t make the words come out.

“I know,” Charles said, beaming. He held up Erik’s card. “I saw.”

Erik blushed furiously. “How did you know it was from me?”

“It’s your handwriting.”

Oh. Of course. Erik’s cheeks burned, and he glanced away, feeling stupid.

“Erik, do you…” Charles hesitated, then pressed on. “Do you maybe want to come over this weekend? To my house to hang out?”

Instantly, Erik snapped his gaze back to him, shocked and delighted. “Really?”

Charles grinned. “Really.”

“Yes.” Erik smiled giddily. “I have to ask my mom but — yeah, I want to.”

“Then it’s a…” Charles searched Erik’s expression for a moment, then finished shyly, “It’s a date?”

Erik’s heart was pounding so hard he thought he might faint. “Yes,” he said, somehow managing not to squeak. “It’s a date.”


End file.
